March 4 - Four year olds have two volumes: HEY GUESS WHAT!? and unconscious
March 4 - Sharing a restaurant booth with a four year old is like trying to keep Scarecrow upright as you ease on down the yellow brick road. How many times can he just spontaneously fall under the table?

March 5 - I am not a parent with a lot of rules, but we have had to enact a "no hugging or snuggling at dinner" policy in the Stryker household. It's that or I need to put on a rain coat before we sit down. Eating seems to fill our son with LOOOOOOVE for his mama and he can only express that by hanging on me with ketchup covered fingers.

March 5 -Ian reprimands me every time I try to lick my thumb and wipe something off of his face: "Mommy! Don't put your mouth germs on me!" So just remember it's Ash Wednesday. Don't put your mouth germs on strangers to try to clean their foreheads.

March 6 - Ian is wide awake at 11pm thanks to an unplanned evening nap. But we have discovered Winnie the Pooh narrated by Stephen Fry and so I'm fine with lying in the dark with him. "You never can tell with bees."

March 8 - My son was awake from 8am to almost 11pm with no nap, a trip to the children's museum and dinner with his grandparents. More importantly, he did not melt down at any point today. I am impressed at his endurance.

March 9 - The one thing I wish I could un-teach my child from his time in day care and preschool is the "cheese" smile for a camera. Thankfully, making fart noises snaps him out of it so I can get a genuine laugh.

March 12 - an (in our dark bedroom at 10:24pm) "Oooh, I'm sooo tired! I'm tired from this very big day!" Me: "Why don't you try closing your eyes and resting? So you can be ready for tomorrow's big day." Ian: "I'm trying but my eyes don't want to close yet!" Daylight Savings Time week with a night owl.

March 13 - My son finally fell asleep at 1am. He was lovely the entire time and we talked about death, Thomas trains, what babies eat, if ducks can dance, and a detailed breakdown of everything we both did that day. (Cheerios and raisins for snack and kite building projects for him. Development planning meeting and Mexican food lunch with Bossman for me.) It's now "time to wake up" and I am loathe to disturb him. I love my night owl kid. I just wish mornings came later.

March 13 - "Let it go, let it go, and I'll rise like the break of dawn. Let it go, let it go. That perfect girl is gone." Ian: "Is she a bad girl now?" Me: "No, she's a good girl." Ian: "Then why did she say the perfect girl is gone?" Me: "Well, I think she's saying she isn't always going to be what other people want her to be." Ian: "So she's not going to listen anymore? Does that make her bad?" GAH! Is everyone else's kid just blindly singing along to the catchy tune and not having some sort of identity crisis? Parenthood: #notforwusses

March 20 - Radio: "Let it go! Let it go. You'll never see me cry!" Ian: "Actually, she cried when her sister got froze. What are fractals? Are they like snow? Why does the cold not bother her? Why doesn't she want it to be spring? Did you know today is the first day of spring?"

March 23 - I leveled up in deboning a rotisserie chicken in the car because Ian kept asking for more.

March 26 - My son is almost four and a half and the sound of a baby crying in hunger at the airport is still physically painful for me. I'm not sure who is happier to see his mommy rushing back to him.

March 27 - Ian spent our Pennsic planning meeting with the cute red head showing her his train magazine. Next he'll be inviting her to come see his etchings.

March 28 - On our evening commute, Ian and I have discussed needs versus wants, trains with double tenders, and the definition of bulky. #notforwusses